Sunday, June 17, 2018

Softball all around us

We have spent every night for the last 15 days (and counting) at a ball field. That is A LOT of ball! Some nights it is a practice, and other times it is a doubleheader. And then occasionally we have a 12 hour day at a tournament. Those are the longest days for Lincoln.
 
These girls work hard, from practices to games to private lessons, we are beyond proud of their dedication and determination to do their best. Regan has landed a spot as the lead catcher on her team; it's not unusual for her to play this position for 3 games in a single day at a tournament. How her body can handle this is beyond me. Frankly, why she likes catching is beyond me! Ha :)
 

 
During our first practice, a mom approached me and knew where I grew up....she coming from the same small town (what a small world!). Her daughter is a pitcher so our girls would be spending a lot of time over the season together. We chit-chatted and turns out, we graduated only 1 year apart. Then my mom showed up to a game and I introduced the two. My mom promptly went on to ask who her family was, only for us to all realize we're related. Which means Regan and Sienna are making quite the duo out there as (distant) cousin pitcher/catcher.
 
 
And while Regan is rocking it behind the plate, Sidney is doing the same from the mound. She is new to kid-pitch softball this summer, having moved up from 8U to 10U where all rules apply. She has been taking pitching lessons for over a year and doing amazingly well with applying her knowledge during games. She tries hard and throws more and more strikes each and every game. It's not unusual for her to strike out several batters in one game, and it's also not unusual for those hitters to make the rest of the team work with all of their hits. She's growing so much in her abilities and it is fun to watch I tell you. Stressful as well!
 

 
It's not often I sit down during a game. Between one pitching, and another catching, I'm generally to nervous for them to be sitting down. So I stand and make the rounds chatting with parents and chasing Lincoln. We giggled when we turned around and noticed Ryan was sitting on a bleacher watching a game, entirely by himself. Not one other soul was sitting next to him :) I may have joked that he forgot deodorant that day!
 
 
Between games at a recent tournament, Lincoln crawled up onto my lap and snuggled in. I sighed as it was nap time and I knew there was no chance he was getting to go home during nap. In a desperate effort to make him sleep, I rocked back and forth and told him if I were him, I would close my eyes and nap on my mommy. So he did!! My back was killing me, my butt fell asleep, my arms were on fire and my mom finally sat behind me so her knees could be my backrest. For an entire hour, that little boy slept in my arms and kept me warm. Every parent that looked my way would smile and give me that "I'm so jealous of you" look.  
 
 
We have been lucky enough to have many spectators join the games. Sidney is not shy about asking her friends to come watch her play, and they show up to cheer her on! Sometimes it is in between their own games....
 
And other times, it is the cutest/sweetest little friend from school who wanted to see her in action! My phone is filled with photos from ball and our favorite players.
 

Love our ball players and all of the excitement they bring to our family in this active season!


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